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Ideologies of Voice Type and Ravel's L'heure espagnole
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 September 2022
Abstract
Despite the advent of voice studies, opera scholars have yet to develop a thoroughgoing conversation about one of the most familiar elements of operatic vocal culture: voice type (categories such as soprano, tenor and the like). To address this, I suggest opera scholars analyse ideologies of voice type: the complex of ideas and practices that guide how individuals understand voice types and their relevance to the operatic experience. I devote the main part of this article to a historical case study of ideologies of voice type in action, focusing on Maurice Ravel, his 1911 opera L'heure espagnole, and the relatively obscure voice type Ravel assigned to Ramiro, the opera's male protagonist, the baryton-Martin. I argue that the characteristically modern ideology of voice type Ravel adopted in L'heure espagnole was unusual for its time and that this helps explains the work's reception.
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References
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14 Potter, Tenor, 2.
15 In 2019, the singer was accused of decades of sexual harassment. The American Guild of Musical Artists heard evidence from more than three dozen sources and concluded he had behaved inappropriately with female performers. www.musicalartists.org/union-investigation-confirms-allegations-against-placido-domingo/.
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26 Late nineteenth-century French editions of Rossini's Barbier listed Bartolo as a basse-bouffe. Gioachino Rossini, Le barbier de Séville, French edition with text by L.V. Durdilly, vocal score (Paris, 1897).
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35 Bergson quoted in Huebner, ‘Laughter’, 230. Emphasis in original.
36 Bara, ‘Heart of the Operatic Institution’, 21n25. I rely on Bara in this and the next paragraph.
37 Théâtre Royal de l'Opéra-Comique, contract between M. Crosnier and M. Audrand, 1845, AJ/13/1136, Archives Nationales, Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, Paris. The same formula appears in contracts from Albert Carré's tenure at the Opéra-Comique (1898–1914), housed at the Archives Nationales under the call number F/21/5261.
38 Théâtre National de l'Opéra, contract between Mlle. Bessie Abbot Pickens and the Académie Nationale de Musique, 1901, F/21/1704, Archives Nationales, Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, Paris.
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